Observers of this video don’t have clue what is happening. It is tricky to be sure. My first reaction was that this is a barn cat who has been friendly with horses at a dressage center and has learned by observation to copy the dressage extended trot.
Now that sounds farfetched. It might be but cats do learn by obeservation. Cats are very acute observers and quite smart when it comes to picking up what they see. One thing we don’t know is if this cat has this gait a lot of the time or whether it just happened on that stretch of decking. It would help to know.
The cat looks healthy. I don’t see anything wrong with this cute cat in terms of anatomy et cetera which might explain her strange extended dressage trot.
Someone suggested the decking on which she is walking causes the gait. That might be true but what is it about the planking that makes her do this? Perhaps it is very hot. I don’t get that argument because wood does not get that hot. It is a good insulator. If it was stone then it would be more plausible.
Any suggestions?
All of my horses had companions at some time. Cats and horses can form strong bonds. I don’t worry about the why here just watching the cat full of joy is enough.
One note. Most gaits like the extended trot are taught but not in prolonged sessions. All movements to dressage aside from a few in the actual Spanish riding school stallions are 100% natural and can be seen in horses at liberty.
Oh, another reason this is not a natural gait for a cat is that it’s not stealthy or efficient. There’s a bounce to it. Fun to watch though, and it looks like the cat is just happy to be alive!
Extremely interesting to me. I also revisited what I knew about horse gaits, as I used to ride. This is what’s called a trot when a horse does it, and a pace on a cat, and both are natural. Two interesting things I see is the extension of the forelimbs, giving it the classic horse trot style, which you have to train a horse to do, though there are gaits peculiar to different breeds that are natural. She actually flicks her front paws out there, and she doesn’t go into a gallop. The second thing, more noticeable when slowed down, is that the cat continues the diagonal pattern and extension when she slows to a walk. That’s not natural like most cats (one foot off the ground at a time). I think you’re right Michael, that this cat mimicked her horse pals’ trot by watching and following. She may not know she’s doing it, or has no problem showing off her talent for the camera. Yeah I believe it’s a female because she leads with her right foot, and it’s the female of cats who are predominantly right-pawed.